Betrayed...but by who

[Lady Jenn]

"You should give him a chance," Petra said with a sigh. "Guys like Morrison don't come around very often. He once risked his own life and his career to safely retrieve a hostage when a mission had gone horribly wrong, at least that's what Tom told me anyway. I can't make you give him a chance but there are far worse guys you could go on a date with. At least give him a chance before you flat out reject him. We'd better go to the car park," she said, seeing Yuchi was ready to go.

[Animegurl5]

"I'll take your word on that one, I would know a little of heroic actions myself, though that is all thanks to him. I never did thank him for that but then again, it would sort of be akward wouldn't it. Nevermind, ya, you are right we should go. Let me change real quick because I honestly feel like a demon from the depths of hell." She smiled and rolled her eyes sarcastically. She quickly whiped the smeared make-up away and changed into something a little more comfortable. She came out wearing tight yoga pants and a cute top with sleeves that hugged her arms until 3/4 of the way down before they belled out. "You like? I don't think I can stand another day wearing a dress, besides this looks more age appropriate for me." She shrugged and pulled her hair back using a ring she owned that clasped around three fingers. Without even being asked she explained its purpose to both Petra and Yuchi.  "Since we can't have proper weapons, might as welll bring something so obvious they won't know what hit them... That is if things go south during this opperation. I just hope things run smoothly..." She sighed before walking out the door, not missing a single beat.

[Lady Jenn]

"Something tells me most of us can handle ourselves in a fight whether we have weapons or not," Petra said with a laugh as Yuchi emerged from the bedroom, dressed in a slightly more formal-looking suit. They headed downstairs to the carpark where Izzy was stood leaning against her car tapping her foot impatiently but with a smile on her face. Morrison was stood with his back to them talking on a cellphone.

"Maybe we should go pay for the room," Izzy said. "I think Skylar and Morrison need to have a word in private." Petra nodded as they lead a slightly confused looking Yuchi upstairs.

[Animegurl5]

"Wait what? No, don't leave me here all by myself.... Why do you guys hate me so?" She pouted as she watched all three leave her behind. After a moment she turned back to Morrison and took Izzy's spot leaning against the car with her arms crossed. She decided to sit like that until Morrison got of the phone but she didn't make a sound. Instead she jsut stared at the ground and waited.

[Lady Jenn]

"We need to be sure Milo, if there's any risk he'd...I know that," he said with a sigh. "Well I guess its a risk we'll have to take then, thanks for trying though." He hung up and turned around obviously expecting to see Izzy sat behind him and almost jumping out of his skin when he saw Skylar there instead. "Oh, I guess Izzy's gone back upstairs then. Sorry, I was phoning an old contact to make sure Snake didn't know us two were US army but he couldn't be absolutely sure, he doesn't think so though." He gave the distinct impression of trying to avoid the subject of earlier but he wasn't doing that great a job of hiding it.

[Animegurl5]

"One can never be sure of anything, not fully. There are two parts to every story, and even two more to each of those parts. My best friend always told me, don't make a decision based on the words of someone else, but rather the look in their eyes when they think you aren't looking. If one judges a situation based only on what one says or does then you will be pulled into the web of a greedy spider." She didn't look up from the ground and her facial expression held little emotion, as did her voice. "Unless your friend can read minds, we won't know if he even suspects us or not.... Morrison, do you know the reasons for me signing up for the military? On paper, the reason is that it has always been my dream to serve my country and to protect my family, but in reality, I can do that job and remain a hell of a lot safer. I have never been good at talking to people, to be honest with you trust has never been a strong point of mine. The real reason I took this job was because I didn't have to talk to anyone, just pick up a gun and say 'yes sir'. What I found was that I could learn to trust those around me because they didn't act upon what was said about you or what you've said about any one else. Morrison, I want you to know that I trust you with my life and I don't know how many times that can be made clear. All I ask of you is that you give to me the same trust. As I said, two parts of every half of a story, and it is my choice to only show you an outward appearance. For now that is." Finally she looked up and looked right at Morrison, a soft smile. Then she pushed away from the car in the direction of the building. "You know, I'm pretty sure you are the first person ever to hear something as personal as that. Would you mind keeping it a secret? Wouldn't want word of it to reach my stuffed animals back home, they might get jealous." When she turned back her smile was playful and devious.

[Lady Jenn]

"Sure," he said with a laugh. "I don't think my family has any idea what my job entails so I've become a bit of an expert at hiding things from other people." He had no idea why he did what he did next, but he leant across and kissed her on the lips, lingering for a moment before pulling back. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that," he said, turning bright red. He was glad that at that moment Izzy and the others reappeared. "Milo can't be certain about Snake so we'll have to just go in and hope he doesn't blow our cover."

"That's fine," Izzy said. "As long as you don't go around showing off that tattoo you have on your right arm they shouldn't get suspicious. Morrison you're with me, Yuchi, you follow us with the others. As of now we're all on a spying mission, but I promise its nowhere near as glamorous as a James Bond movie."

[Animegurl5]

Skylar's face turned bright pink but she smiled all the same. "Oh damn, no sexy entrance with a mysterious 'Bond... James Bond'?" She laughed and was relieved that the last of the pink had faded from her features. "And Morrison? I'm going to hold you to that promise." She winked before falling back with Petra and Yuchi. "Ready to go?"

[Lady Jenn]

"Ready when you are," Petra said as she climbed into the passenger's seat, just as Izzy's Ferrari set off towards the car park exit, Yuchi following not far behind her. "So, how good a kisser is Morrison?" Petra asked with a smile. "Yeah, sorry, we kinda saw that, we didn't want to make either of you more feel embarrassed by admitting we'd seen you though."

[Animegurl5]

Sky just smiled and rested her chin on her palm as she watched out the window. "Well, if you really must know... He's better than you." She looked over at Petra with a challenging gaze. "But never you mind that, are you jealous?" She teased, going back to looking out the window. "If you are... You shouldn't be. I'm just not the type of person to open up like that. My one defense is not to let others know what I'm thinking unless I want them too. And even those thoughts that some think they can read... They're lies. That is what I trained for in every free hour of time that I had. Besides, I told him I tusted him with my life, what I didn't tell him was that I don't think I know how to trust someone with my heart."  She then fell silent.  I just hope that can change, it would be tragic if I let my Romeo walk away.

[Lady Jenn]

"No offence to Morrison but I'm not jealous," she said with a laugh. "I'm kinda disappointed that kiss was quite so short though, I think he'd have probably made it last a bit longer if he hadn't been worried we were about to turn up."

"We're almost there," Yuchi said, pointing to a huge skyscraper visible not that far from them the huge image of a phoenix painted on the side of it making it stand out from those around it. "For a secret organisation we sure like to show ourselves off to the rest of the world," he said with a slight laugh.

[Animegurl5]

"You are missing my point Petra... Nevermind." She rolled her eyes and looked at the painted Phoenix on the skyscraper. "Show offs." She smiled despite herself though, for it really was a beautiful piece of art. "God, the closer we are the more nervous I get. Kind of like those moments before you walk on stage for a school play."

[Lady Jenn]

"Don't worry," Yuchi said as they approached the entrance where Morrison and Izzy were stood waiting for them. "I may not have known Izzy's real identity but she's far tougher a fighter than she might at first appear. There are far worse people you could get caught in a fight with."

He pulled up, getting out and and opening the door so Petra and Skylar could get out. It was only now they could see Izzy and Morrison weren't alone, another man was stood with them, a tall slender-looking man with an ID around his neck who gave them a rather stern look as they approached.

"I assume you have your ID?" the man asked. Petra handed over her and Skylar's ID's which the man studied for a moment before handing them back. "If you would just step through the metal detector and then Miss Redmond can give you the tour of our offices."

They stepped through one by one, letting Skylar go last, glad to see the metal detector didn't sound. Inside the lobby were men and women of all ages rushing between lifts and ground floor offices.

[Animegurl5]

"Exactly how many floors are there to this place?" Skylar said, head moving around from left to right trying to look at everything at once. Taking a step forward she suddenly paused with grimace and a slight gasp. Her hand immediately went to her thigh, the same one that she had been in the infirmary for just before they came on this mission. Shoot, not now. The pain can wait. She growled to herself before regaining her composure. "Sorry, leg cramp. I guess I haven't been drinking enough lately." She lied, knowing that it would look suspicious either way.

[Lady Jenn]

"Here, let me help you," Morrison said, offering his arm for her to lean on. "Izzy said there are 30 floors to this place apparentely, not counting three basement levels too."

"I'd better go sort out those files on my computer," Yuchi said, surprised by the fact the man had either not registered his comment or didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by it. He headed off towards one of the lifts.

""Shall I show you the main office first?" Izzy asked. "It's probably the quietest part of the building and an easier place to start than offices packed full of people you don't know yet. Or we can start in the cafe if you want a drink of water first."

[Animegurl5]

Using Morrison for some support Skylar smiled gratefully. "The cafe sounds nice but I'd be afraid all the food would go missing. I'll live, if I go a little longer without something to drink. I say the main office sounds like a wonderful place to start." Leaning in closer to Morrison she whispered to him so that only he cuold hear. "I didn't think such a minor injury could become such a problem. If anything goes wrong, I'm screwed." She pulled away for a second then leaned in again. "Oh and thanks for the support... Now smile like I just said something funny or cute." She pulled away again with a playful smile on her face and hugged his arm tightly for support.

[Lady Jenn]

"We can get you back to the medbay when this mission is over," he whispered into her ear. "Lead the way," he said to Izzy as they headed to the office. It was almost empty aside from a young secretary sat at one desk in the corner as they entered the room.

"Kelly," Izzy said, "can you give us a bit of privacy?  have money matters to discuss with our visitors." The girl nodded and headed out of the office. Izzy sat down and opened a file as if she was about to discuss investments with them, secretly opening her phone, dialling a number and putting it on the table. "Yuchi, how are things going on your end?"

"Good," he replied. "Luckily there's almost no-one around my offices so no-one's stopped to ask me what I'm doing. I've found the files we need and I'm starting to copy them as we speak."

""Well we need to find a way to use the time Yuchi needs without rousing any suspicions," she said, thinking for a moment. "I have an idea, look at these personnel files," she said, walking over to the secretaries' desk and pulling out a small pile of folders. "MI6 have long feared Firebrand have agents in various governments and security services. Maybe you guys can help flag up anyone who looks suspicious. If anyone does ask we can always say you want to be sure the company is being run properly before you splash the cash."

[Animegurl5]

"I'll do anything if it doesn't involve walking around the whole time." She shrugged and looked at the other two waiting to see what they said. The pain in her leg kept throbbing but she ignored it and pushed the pain out of her mind for the time being. "How long do you think he will need?"

[Lady Jenn]

"Half an hour tops," Izzy replied. "He has a way of telling us its time to go, he'll send me a text so if my phone goes off we need to be ready to roll."

"There's a whole lot of names here," Morrison said. "We could be here a while trying to spot double agents, I spose at least he's given us half an hour to sort this."

"I'll order us some drinks," Izzy said. "After all decisions like the ones you're not making are thirsty work," she said, laughing.

[Animegurl5]

"Funny." Skylar smiled and looked at the file. "So, what are we looking for exactly? Anything specific?" Scratching her head she looked at the papers at a bit of a loss.

[Lady Jenn]

"Anyone with sections of their background which seem to have big gaps in them," Izzy replied. "One thing Snake and Linklater have in common is they went almost completely AWOL between quitting the military and the founding of Firebrand. A month or two where they do nothing might not be weird, if they have a year or so of nothing then the alamrm bells should be ringing."

[Animegurl5]

"Alright, got it." Flipping open one of the files she began reading and about three seconds later she was growling. "I hate sitting still, this is so.... boring." She pouted like a child, attempting to read but unable to focus on it fully.

[Lady Jenn]

"Feel free to walk around while you read," Izzy said with a smile. "You're not obliged to sit down while reading it."

"Uh, well I've discovered something," Petra said. "But this is a little worrying if I'm right." She handed the file to Izzy.

"Skylar, what's your surname?" Izzy asked as she studied the file. "Because either you have a sister who works for Firebrand or there's a girl who looks a hell of a lot like you working here." She turned the file round so Skylar could see the file. It was a woman who looked like an older Skylar, but with pink hair and a scar on her left cheek.

[Animegurl5]

"Holy crap, gimme that." She snatched the file and scanned over it, eyes resting on the picture for a long moment. "Yeah, this is Maya alright. What the hell is she doing in a place like this? She absolutely hates business." Her fingers trailed over the picture. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Maya and Skylar Brookes, twins born years apart. We were born 10 years apart but everyone was surprised at how alike we were in both looks and interests, and we even shared the same birthday if you can believe it. We were so close despite everything and then when I was 17 she suddenly just went missing. I blamed her creepy boyfriend but we couldn't prove anything because both of them went missing. I haven't seen her since but there is no way I would mistake her face." Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she was very tense. "And she wouldn't forget mine either. If she sees me our cover is blown, I can't stay."

[Lady Jenn]

"I think I know how she was recruited," Petra said, picking up another file. "Sandil Merchant, half-Bahamian, half-American ex-boyfriend of hers who still works here. Was this the boyfriend you thought was responsible for her going missing by any chance?"